Organizing Principles for the Non-Organization
The power of any endeavor does not come from a banner, but from the cooperative work and shared struggle of people.
Revolutions are not fought by parties or other organizations – which are merely representations – but by people yearning for liberation.
Whether directed into revolutionary struggle or not, people will always seek to overcome conditions of oppression, dispossession and alienation.
The purpose of socialist organizing is not to build a party or some other organization, but to raise the root principle of the forces that engulf us into consciousness, to ignite revolutionary fervor in people and the will to act collectively to abolish the world that is and to bring forth the world to come. Socialism must foster spontaneity, initiative and confidence to act – the will to be free.
Revolution is a fire that must be kindled and constantly tended to in the soul of every person. Revolution will not be completed by force of arms, a vote, or an assembly – freedom is a custom all people must learn to practice.
It is always in one's power to throw oneself into the street, whether it is filled with traffic or not. We cannot wait for the revolution to practice freedom, we possess it now; we should practice this custom to the best of our ability, in spite of the forces of the conformism that always threatens to overpower it.
An organization that depends on the initiative of leaders or representatives and bureaucratized processes to make decisions and organize the collective struggle is vulnerable to expedient decisions and self-serving exploitation by its leaders, majoritarian coercion that grinds dissent away through superficially democratic processes, and decapitation.
Such an organization privileges the initiative of individuals who have made activism their profession, or who have significant amounts of time not spent at or preparing for work, who live in urban centers, who are able bodied and independent of obligations to care for parents, children and other loved ones while hampering the ability of others to share their valuable time, insight and will to struggle.
Relationships between comrades dedicated to shared work and struggle do not need legitimation by any organization. Such relationships can be freely formed and broken as needed without first garnering the stamp of approval of any body. The initiative of those involved is the only vote needed.
A network of comrades united by common principles that shares information and other resources as well as basic protocols that enable each contact to propose actions, projects and other endeavors without having to navigate any bureaucratic process provides the scaffold for collective action in which individual freedom and democratic decision-making are harmonized. With no organization and no members to lay claim to it and police the borders around what is permissible under its aegis, people may join and and withdraw from collective struggle as the vagaries of life permit, in whatever work their own initiative is joined with that of collaborators to realize.
Abuse, coercion, exploitation and other kinds of violence that do not strike at forms of domination, against any individual or group – comrade or not – betrays the spirit of revolution and cannot be tolerated. Redress for violence must be achieved in the eyes of its victims with all due haste. Repeat violation of the autonomy of others must be met with expulsion from any network; the will to dominate threatens the safety of collaborators and frays relationships meant to foster solidarity. Repeat offenders can demonstrate their commitment to revolution by staying home.
